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News & ArtsThursday, November 13, 2008
Media / 2008 A Taste of Their Own Medicine
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Remember when Fox News, known for rewriting history to reflect its own ideology, reported that Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent? No doubt, even though the election was over, the anchors didn't want to reveal such unflattering information about their beloved conservative candidate. But Fox pretty much had to report it—other news agencies were saying it—yet Fox was citing an unnamed figure in the McCain campaign.
It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. “Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.
Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.
And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months.
Burn on Fox.
2
Burn on Fox? It was MSNBC, The New Republic, the LA Times, and Mother Jones who bit on Eisenstadt. David Shuster works for MSNBC, not Fox. Everybody got burned by these twats -- including one hell of a lot of blogs, including this one.
3
Sure, but Fox News is the one that does everything it can to defend and support the McCain-Palin ticket.
4
Well, we can say that Fox was burned, but this will allow Fox and company to brush off the whole thing as a hoax when in fact the hoax was only that these idiots falsely claimed to be the source of what is otherwise a true story, which is that McCain insiders have stated that Palin did not know that Africa was not a single country.
5
Sarah, vindicated.
This was stupid, because now anyone defending her can, with some shred of truth, brush off all criticism of her as being propagated by a stupid media, started as a hoax.
This was stupid, because now anyone defending her can, with some shred of truth, brush off all criticism of her as being propagated by a stupid media, started as a hoax.
6
This doesn't hurt Fox exclusively, but it's still funny that the one negative thing they reported on Palin was bog.
7
Jay wrote:
Jay, other than Palin's general lack of understanding of things outside of her home state, what leads you to believe that it is true? Did the hoaxters tease the truth out of someone with first-hand knowledge?
these idiots falsely claimed to be the source of what is otherwise a true story
Jay, other than Palin's general lack of understanding of things outside of her home state, what leads you to believe that it is true? Did the hoaxters tease the truth out of someone with first-hand knowledge?
8
the dan rather/AWOL strategy at work.
now everything stupid palin has said can be discounted as a hoax. (even the stuff on film! hoax! katie couric: hoax! charlie gibson: hoax!)
and obama is a totalitarian nazi! true!
now everything stupid palin has said can be discounted as a hoax. (even the stuff on film! hoax! katie couric: hoax! charlie gibson: hoax!)
and obama is a totalitarian nazi! true!
9
The HARDING INSTITUTE? That's fucking brilliant -- naming a conservative think tank after the next least popular and second-worst failed president ever.
What's next? The GW Bush Center for Advanced Studies?
What's next? The GW Bush Center for Advanced Studies?
10
I read article as saying that the hoax ocurred when "Eisenstadt" claimed to be the Fox's source inside the McCain campaign, when in fact, it was ome other (and presumably, more real?) person inside the Mccain campaign who gave Fox the Palin/Africa/Country story. Am I getting this wrong?
11
I'm unclear here. Was it the original story or the attribution that turned out to be false?
By the way, Al Gore never claimed to have "invented" the internet, either. So Palin probably shouldn't count on "Palin doesn't know that Africa is a continent" going away even if it ain't true.
By the way, Al Gore never claimed to have "invented" the internet, either. So Palin probably shouldn't count on "Palin doesn't know that Africa is a continent" going away even if it ain't true.
14
I'm with @11. Its unclear to me whether the Africa quote itself was the hoax, or if the act of claiming to be the source of it is the hoax.
16
The hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the story about Palin — not the Fox News story itself. While Palin has denied that she mistook Africa for a country, the veracity of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiO_h…
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiO_h…
17
@16. Yeah, ok, so that's cleared up. Dominic, your "Burn on Fox" tagline actually misses the point of the story you blockquote. You should fix it.
18
I still think it's bullshit Dan Rather was forced to resign for citing a shaky source. It's not totally dissimilar to this in that it's probably mostly true, regardless.
19
I really don't believe that Palin thought Africa was a country. I'm not defending her intelligence - see the Katie Couric interviews - but the whole Africa thing sounds made up.
20
Ugh, it was the attribution that was the hoax.
Just like how John Mark Karr didn't really murder Jon-Benet Ramsey but her murder was real.
And how is this a burn on Fox?
Just like how John Mark Karr didn't really murder Jon-Benet Ramsey but her murder was real.
And how is this a burn on Fox?
21
Phil M, I'm late to reply, but yeah, it's just the attribution that's the hoax. Now, whether Palin actually believed that Africa was a country rather than a continent is still up for debate, but as far as I know it's true that anonymous "McCain Insiders" actually did make the claim that Palin believed this.
22
"The pranksters behind Eisenstadt acknowledge that he was not, through them, the anonymous source of the Palin leak. He just claimed falsely that he was the leaker--and they say they have no reason to cast doubt on the original story. For its part, Fox News Channel continues to stand behind its story."
Boy. Confusing. Eisenstadt wasn't the source of the leak but someone else still was.
Boy. Confusing. Eisenstadt wasn't the source of the leak but someone else still was.
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